Improvement in preserve-cans



J. F; GRIFFEN.

Preserve Can.

Patented April 5, 1864.

PATENT @TTTCE.

JOHN F. GRIFFEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRESERVE-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 432, E86, dated April 5, 1864.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN F. GRIFFEN, of New York, in the county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cans or Jars for Putting Up Fruit, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates, more particularly, to what are known as self-sealing cans, and which, are employed in putting up, for future .use, all kinds of fruits, vegetables, &c., though my invention may be employed on any kind of jar or can, (used for any purpose.)

Previous to my invention it has been customary to make and use tin cans provided with a metalliescrew-cover, (or other kind of metallic lid, so put on as to hermetically seal the vessel.) It has also been customary to make glass jars and provide them with sometimes metallic and sometimes glass covers or stop; pers. The metallic can possesses for some uses very great advantages over the glass j arsfor instance, it is cheaper, and is not liable to get broken during transportation-while it lacks, necessarily, one of the great advantages possessed by the glass jarviz., the transparency of the latter, by which a person is enabled to discover the nature of the contents of the jar without unsealing it.

My invention has for its object to embody in ametallic can or jar the advantage just named possessed by the glass jar, and thus make the metallic can much more useful and desirable than it is now; and to this end my invention consists in providing a metallic or other opaque can or jar with a glass cover or stopper.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of my improved can or jar, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top view of a selfsealing preserve-can embracing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top view of the cover or stopper, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the center of the can with its cover on. In Fig. 1 the cover is not on the can.

In the several figures the same part is indicated by the same letter of reference.

A is the can, which may be made of tin, in the usual manner. B is a screw stopper or cover, which closes the mouth of the jar. The can A has its mouth so shaped as thatthe edge of the tin at a forms a portion of a screw, in the manner already well known, and the glass stopperB is made with a screw-threadft,"on its 'periphei'y, which takes into the thread a in the same manner as in the metallic stoppers sometimes employed. b is a packingring of rubber or other suitable material, which is applied or arranged between the flange portion of the stopper B and the top of the can A, as clearly shown, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) to effect the perfect sealing of the can when the stopper B is closed in, as will be understood by those familiar with self-sealing cans.

It will be seen that by making the stopper B of glass (or other transparent material) I am enabled, after the jar has been scaled, to determine the nature of its contents by looking through the stopper B.

The can shown and described is employed for purposes of preserving fruits, 800., in the same manner as self-sealing cans now in use, and the operation of its parts in putting up or sealing need not be particularized here, being already well known.

I am aware that a metallic can with a packing and a metallic cover or stopper has been made in which all the parts were constructed or formed and bent together in a manner similar to that I have here shown.

I am also aware that a glass jar has been made having employed in connection with it a" glass screw-stopper and a packing; but I am not aware that a metallic can has ever had a glass stopper (or its equivalent) applied to it, whereby the contents of the opaque can or jar may be discerned.

It will be understood that I do not propose to limit myself to any particular form of jar or can or form of stopper, but desire to secure any and all modes of carrying out my in vention.

In lieu of the glass stopper B, a stopper might be made of metal with a small glass set' in it, through which to look; but this I consider only another modification of my inveng armies v r tion, and not so good as that I have full shown In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set my and described. hand and seal.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- JNO. F. GRIFFEN. [L S.] ters' Patent, is

The combination of a glass or other transpa- Witnesses: rent stopper with a metallic (or other opaque) ANDREW J. TODD, a can or jar, substantially as described, for the JOHN J. LYON.

' purpose set forth. 

